Praying With Paul

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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In Christ, the Fullness of Deity

Passage

Colossians 2:8-9

Prayer

Dear Father, May I never be impressed with the philosophy and empty deceit that comes out of human traditions which do not agree with Christ. Keep me from being enticed by teachings that root their knowledge in the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of nature, and in scientism, but not in Christ. Help us to understand what it means that the very fullness of deity dwells in our Lord bodily and that we have come to the fullness of life in him and that he is the head of all rule and authority. Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Joined with Christ

Passage

Colossians 2:10-12

Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you, Father, that we have been joined with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection. Make us realize that we put off the body of flesh in his circumcision, were buried with him in his baptism, and were raised with him in his resurrection. Give us the faith to see your hand at work in all this and to see ourselves in what happened to him.Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Alive in Christ

Passage

Colossians 2:13-19

Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you for redeeming us. You took us out of deadness and gave us life. You made us alive together with Christ. You canceled the debts that we owed you because of our sinfulness. You disarmed the powers that work against us, triumphing over them in Christ for our sake. How gracious and wonderful you are. To you we owe eternal praise. Help us to withstand anyone who might seek to disqualify us, seeking to bind us to any principle of action at all except faith in Jesus Christ, for he is the head, and he determines how the body will grow. Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Dead and Risen

Passage

Colossians 2:20-3:2

Prayer

Dear Father, Help me to realize that I have died and have been resurrected with Christ. Break the attachments of my old life and its bondage. Don't let me live as if life were a matter of keeping regulations - don't touch, don't taste, don't handle - but let me live out of a deep sense of love and loyalty to my Savior. Don't let me grasp for that which has merely an appearance of wisdom and which might make a show of religiosity but not really do anything to separate me from the pride and lusts of my fleshly nature. Rather let me seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at your right hand. Let me set my mind on the things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Patiently, yet Expectantly

Passage

Colossians 3:3-4

Prayer

Dear Father, My God, I know that I have died and that my life is hid with Christ. He holds the outcome of my life wholly in his hands; he is my life. Grant that I may wait patiently yet expectantly, knowing that when he appears, I will also appear with him in glory. Father, I thank you for this blessed hope. Let the joy of it fill my life every day as I sojourn here on this earth. Let me put the things of this world in perspective through the victory that Christ brings. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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Extinguishing Evil

Passage

Colossians 3:5-17

Prayer

Dear Father, Help me put to death certain things in my life that are earthly - inward evils ranging from impurity to covetousness. Most of all, may I be rid of covetousness, wanting the applause and possessions of this world, which is really idolatry. May I extinguish all outward evil ranging from anger to slander and foul talk. Keep me from everything that is false. Don't let a lie come to my mind or my lips. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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No Distinctions

Passage

Colossians 3:5-10

Prayer

Dear Father, Let me live in the light of your truth about myself - that my old nature has been put off, with its baggage of practices, and that I have put on a new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Help us to make no distinctions regarding origins, heredity, or traditions, but to see Christ in all believers. Help us to let Christ be in us, to transform and renew every fiber of our being and of our relationships. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

In the Name of Jesus

Passage

Colossians 3:15-17

Prayer

Dear Father, Let Christ's peace rule in our hearts. Let us be at peace in his one body. Fill our hearts and mouths with overflowing thanksgiving. Let Christ's word dwell in us richly. Let us teach and admonish each other in all wisdom. Let us impart grace through the songs flowing from thankful hearts. May we do everything, whatever it is, in the name of our Lord Jesus. We give thanks to you, our God and Father, through his name. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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Clothed with Christ

Passage

Colossians 3:12-14

Prayer

Dear Father, Grant that we may clothe ourselves with Christ, for he is a garment of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience, forbearance and forgiveness. Above all, clothe us with his love, which will bind us together in perfect harmony. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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Relationships

Passage

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Prayer

Dear Father, May Christian wives and husbands relate to each other as is fitting in the Lord, with subjection and kindness. May children obey their parents and may parents not provoke the children. May we work at our jobs in ways which will put honoring you above trying to please someone. Whatever our tasks, help us to work heartily, serving you. Help us all to treat each other fairly in all our relationships. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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Unceasing Prayer

Passage

Colossians 4:2-6

Prayer

Dear Father, who answers our prayers, Help me to be steadfast in my praying to you, even to stay awake that I may pray! Fill my life with thanksgiving to you. O God, I pray for all your servants everywhere that you may open a door for us to proclaim your Word, to declare the now-public secret - Christ crucified, glorified, and coming - and to make the message clear, as we ought to speak. In the name of Jesus I ask you to fill our lives with your holy life and to claim all our motives and deeds as your own. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Fullness of Love

Passage

Colossians 4:2-6

Prayer

Dear Father, granter of wisdom, Help me conduct myself wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let my speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, and may I always know how to answer. Help me and all your saints to show ourselves to be a people who live life to the fullest, because we live in the fullness of your love shown in Jesus Christ! In the name of Jesus I ask you to fill our lives with your holy life and to claim all our motives and deeds as your own. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Encouragement and Comfort

Passage

Colossians 4:7-11

Prayer

Dear Father, Give us caring hearts when it comes to our fellow servants in Christ. May we carry the news of them to each other for the sake of building each other up. Stir us up to work hard for the kingdom of God and to encourage each other in all facets of our labor. Show us ways that we can encourage each other in our struggles and comfort each other in our sufferings. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Working Together

Passage

Colossians 4:12-18

Prayer

Dear Father, Help us to remember each other earnestly in our prayers. Help us to stand mature and to be fully assured in your will. Help us encourage one another to carry our assigned works to completion. Help us fulfil whatever ministry we have received in the Lord. Help us to remember those who are in prison, and those who suffer in any way for your service. May your perfect grace sustain and keep all of us. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Filling the Earth with God's Goodness

Passage

Philemon 1-16

Prayer

Dear Father, bestower of freedom, Thank you for the love and the faith which you have put in your people. Please help them share this with each other and with the world. Let this promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ Jesus. Put such joy in our hearts and such gladness on our faces that people will want to know what makes us happy. Help each of us to render such help and comfort, expressing our love, that the hearts of all your holy people will be refreshed. Help us not to make demands on each other, but to entreat, seeking consent, so that the good we ask from others might not be given through compulsion but through free will. Help us to bind up broken relationships. Help us to be willing to step into the breach, to enable others to make amends, even if it costs us money, effort, or time. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with our spirits. In his name I ask. Amen.